The invention relates to a lockable glove compartment cover for motor vehicles of the type having a passenger compartment with at least one storage compartment in a vehicle dashboard or the like which is designed to be locked and unlocked.
Such a lockable glove compartment cover for motor vehicles is disclosed in German Patent No. (DE-PS) 3,230,865, wherein a handle flap as actuating element is integrated eccentrically on the side facing the driver in the glove compartment cover of the glove compartment which is arranged on the passenger side. This handle flap is mounted pivotably on a rotary rod which faces a central lock arranged centrally on the glove compartment cover and projects sufficiently for its projecting end to serve as a guide rod for a sliding sleeve with a rack profile. The rack profile is engaged by a pinion segment connected integrally in terms of rotation to a closing cylinder arranged beside the handle plate, whereby the sliding sleeve is slidable axially on the guide rod in the course of the rotation of the closing cylinder core. Depending upon the axial position of the sliding sleeve, the lock is tripped by means of a lever integral with the guide rod or else the pivotal movement of the lever is idle.
However, the construction of this known closing mechanism of a glove compartment cover presupposes that the closing cylinder is arranged beside the handle flap on the side facing the lock, which inevitably results in different operating distances for the driver from the handle flap and from the closing cylinder.
An underlying object of the invention is to develop further the closing mechanism of a lockable glove compartment cover so that the closing member can be arranged both beside and also above or beneath an actuating element.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by using an axially movable spur gear in the drive train for the cover latch, which spur gear can be rotated between operative and inoperative positions by a gear wheel on the locking cylinder. In this case the distance between the actuating element and the closing member is determined by the diameter of the corresponding spur gears, whilst any relative arrangement of the associated actuating element on a circle about the closing member is conceivable.
Because a compact push-button is provided as actuating element, the actuating element and the closing member as a whole can be arranged with great space economy.
As in the prior art, the closing member can be formed by a closing cylinder or by a servomotor, with the latter of which a spur gear element must likewise be coupled in rotation.
The use of a linear servo drive as servomotor is used in embodiments having a central locking system, additionally present which also operates on the basis of such servo drives. This creates the advantageous possibility of integrating the servomotor associated with the glove compartment cover into the system of the central locking installation.
A plurality of spur gear elements which belong to different push-buttons can be driven simultaneously by the closing member or locking cylinder. This results in a structural simplification of the closing mechanism when a divided glove compartment cover is provided with a plurality of locks to lock different covers at different storage compartments. By this means each compartment cover can be opened separately from the other. But the advantage of simplification also applies if a further storage container provided with a lockable cover is arranged in the instrument panel of the motor vehicle in addition to the glove compartment. Only one closing member or locking cylinder is required for a plurality of actuating elements in both cases.
In preferred embodiments the closing member is combined with the push-buttons to form a block-like subassembly which can be assembled with a small time outlay.
It is also advantageous for a convenient arrangement of the operating elements if the lock in each case is connected to the associated tripping lever by means of a cable train. In this case the operating elements may also be integrated into the instrument panel of the motor care remotely from the glove compartment, staggered laterally towards the driver's seat, for example, whereby they are more handily placed.
Each spur gear element on the push-button side may also be rotatable into its secured position both manually by means of a closing cylinder and by servo actuation by means of the servomotor.
For this purpose, however, a freewheel which permits a rotary movement of the spur gear elements when the closing cylinder is locked must be present in the rotary transmission chain between the closing cylinder and the servomotor.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.